The Elan's previous owner had a shop rebuild the Strombergs as part of a laundry list of maintenance items. I assumed they got the synchronization pretty close, but I was unable to confirm this with my Synchrometer due to space issues, so eventually ordered a Unisyn which is perfectly at home in the confines of an Elan engine bay. Much to my surprise, not only weren't the carbs synchronized, but they were about as far out as possible. At idle, the back carb was closed, leaving the front carb to feed all the cylinders thanks to the carb adapter cross over tube and siamesed ports. To put things in perspective, things were so bad that covering the front carb with the Unisyn wide open (i.e. partial blockage) killed the engine immediately, while completely blocking the rear carb intake with my hand produced zero change to idle speed.

After getting the carbs correctly synched, the mixture was revisited and slightly richened. The engine now runs even better. I still wish there was more top end, but this thing is extremely torquey and belies the meager 1.6L displacement.

​I know never to trust my memory when the stakes are high and I’m uncertain I’m correct; however, if the stakes don’t appear particularly precipitous and I feel reasonably certain I’m right, then what the hell – trust away! Unfortunately what I learned during a recent upgrade to the Elan is that I don’t always fully comprehend the stakes. Call it ignorance, call it inability to think things through, or just call it good old-fashioned stupidity. Regardless, it nearly bit me when installing the 123 Ignition distributor.

Previous owners had slowly converted the Elan’s Twin Cam to non-Federal spec. The secondary throttle assembly was removed, a custom carb adapter replicating the non-Federal version was installed, the vacuum retard mechanism was disabled, the Strombergs were converted to adjustable needles (although strangely keeping the leaner Federal profile), and the exhaust manifold was replaced with a header from RD Enterprises. The two items remaining were the distributor (specifically the advance curve) and the mixture needles. The Federal engine uses a very, very conservative advance curve that ranges from 5-19 deg with max advance at 5000 rpm vs. the non-Federal curve's 9-33deg with max advance at 6500 rpm. Further, the carbs had fixed mixture needles to prevent Joe Mechanic from messing with emissions, and those needles had a much leaner profile than used outside the US.

Options to correct the ignition advance included sending the distributor out for a recurve while keeping the Pertronix, converting to a 3D ignition system which would yield improvements to drivability and give great flexibility for future mods, or use a programmable distributor from 123 Ignition. Their Tune+Bluetooth version includes a rev limiter, phone-based anti-theft system, vacuum advance, and customizable advance and MAP curves with up to 10 user adjustable points. It’s not fully 3D, but one could argue it’s 3D-light, or perhaps just 2.5D. Installation is also very easy as everything is contained within the distributor and requires just one additional ground wire compared to the Pertronix. In contrast, the 3D system meant building a wiring harness, replacing the crank pulley with one that includes a trigger wheel (requiring radiator removal), mounting a crank sensor, finding a location for the ECU, EDIS (or a more expensive ECU that doesn’t require one), and the wasted spark coil pack. Bottom line, it’s a PITA. Given I was trying to avoid PITA, and I prefer keeping the engine bay aesthetics close to period correct, I opted for the 123 Ignition.

On the surface completing this work seemed pretty simple, but the project was plagued with issues ranging from parts delivery to my carelessness which nearly turned the Elan into a rolling candle. First, the parts order. We had a big snow storm in the area that delayed delivery of the distributor by a week. Once it arrived, it was immediately apparent they included the wrong cap. Rather than the Twin Cam required side entry version necessary for carb clearance, they supplied a top entry cap. Fortunately the vendor was very responsive and sent out the correct cap the same day I contacted him, but two more snow storms added another week and a half to that delivery. Once it did a arrive I began removing the old distributor and had the revelation that the original distributor cap uses a screw in style plug wire, versus the more common push on style as found on the 123 Ignition. In other words, new plug wires were required to complete the installation. Add another week and a half for Magnecor to make and ship the new set, and I had lost almost a month.

This is where the next set of issues arose. The ones due to my impatience and stupidity. First, I screwed up and attached the distributor’s ground wire to what I thought was a ground. Actually it is a ground whenever the starter isn’t engaged (as in when I tested it with a voltmeter) but since that lug also served as the other side of the solenoid, it became hot when the solenoid closed to spin the starter. As a result, the engine wouldn’t start until after releasing the key from the start position when the ground was reestablished. Fortunately that fix was simple; find a constant ground. With that corrected, the engine started and the first test drive ensued. At this point I should mention that my plan was to program in the Federal ignition curve, then after installing the richer needles, program in the non-Federal curve. Given most people advance the Federal distributor a few degrees, I bumped the initial curve by 3 deg, but it was still pretty retarded. Although the engine seemingly ran fine, after about 3 miles, the cabin began to fill with smoke as I pulled away from a stop sign. That did not inspire confidence, but it did inspire panic. Turns out the header was getting extremely hot and burned a hole through the adjacent fiberglass footwell. The cause? More stupidity on my part. The 123 Ignition instructions state to set #1 at TDC, then with the cap removed, rotate the distributor in the opposite direction of normal rotor rotation until a green LED on the face of the distributor just begins to light. Easy. Well, easy if you don’t rely on memory for the normal rotor rotation direction and that memory is wrong. The result is that the distributor thought it was just entering the window when the rotor completes the circuit for a cylinder, when in fact it was just ending that window. The result was a weak spark that allowed unburnt fuel to enter the header and ignite, thereby significantly increasing primary tube temperatures and burning the fiberglass just 5/8” away. Oops.

With that solved (and a heat shield installed between the header and footwell), the engine ran normally albeit just a bit smoother. Next up, swapping in the richer, 2BAR needles, and programming in the non-Federal curve retarded by 2 degrees to account for fuel quality. This was a big improvement. Power seemed a little better – nothing radical, but enough to be noticeable – and throttle response was significantly improved. The two-step delivery upon hard throttle application that felt similar to a modern turbo, was gone. It still isn’t razor sharp like DCOEs or an ITB setup on a fuel injected car, but it now feels normal and no longer calls attention to itself.

Next up is enabling the vacuum advance functionality. The plan is to get some miles on the engine without the vacuum advance to establish a baseline for drivability and fuel mileage, then hook it up to identify any improvements or setbacks.

Since buying the Elan, my schedule and good weather have infrequently aligned, making it hard to put meaningful miles on the car. It also means that the Westfield has seen very little action, as getting to know the Elan has taken precedence. This weekend the weather was beautiful: sunny and unseasonable warm with temps knocking on the door of 60F. Although the playoffs were on and I needed to do yardwork, managed to get in some miles under the guise of running important errands.

After today, two things stand out: first, the Elan lives up to the hype. It's a 50 year old car with a modern feeling suspension. Engine and brakes show their age. The Strombergs don't offer throttle response as crisp as a good fuel injection system (or Webers) and the unassisted brakes require some muscle to work, but they do have good feel, and the engine does make decent power. The suspension though; brilliant. Great steering feel, very good grip, and the car simply flows from corner to corner.

Second, the Westfield is a highly involving weapon. There is no more apt way to describe its capabilities and attitude. Turn in, braking, acceleration -- there is simply no delay to any input and the car begs to be steered with the throttle. The fact that the car doesn't cosset you, that the seats and harnesses firmly lock you to the chassis, creates a sense of oneness that I haven't experienced elsewhere. When the road turns twisty and the speeds rise, it truly feels like an extension of your body, delivering a very entertaining experience.

I was digging through some old emails last night and came across messages I sent friends during the two tours I did in the Westfield that were wrapped around Monterey Car Week. I threw those together and updated the two photo pages from those tours with the story of each trip. Masochists can find the prose linked from the Tours page or via the direct links below.

Tires are an issue for the Elan. Factory fitment for the first 3 generations is 145/80-13 and thanks to the mild flares in the S4, this was upped to a heady 155/80-13. Although wider tires will fit when narrower than stock springs are used like with my TTR suspension, classic Lotus tolerance issues means that what fits one car, may not work on another. And when you go too wide for a particular car, a mid-corner bump will create significant body damage.

Although wider sounds better, the reality is that only crappy All Season tires are generally available in Lotus sizes. The exception it the Michelin XAS and XAS FF. These are modern tires using the classic XAS tread and the FF designation means the substitution of a much stickier rubber compound. How sticky? Well, that's hard to say. Michelin doesn't publish a tread wear rating and wouldn't answer my question on that topic or identify the other tires in their range using that compound, but rumor says it's their R-compound. Based on reported wear rates from those using the tire, that sounds about right.

The downside to the XAS is weight. They aren't particularly light and they require heavy tubes. Compared to the tubeless, and very, very worn 165/70-13 Firestone M&S tires that came with my car, they are fully 4 lb heavier per corner. That's a lot, but it's not something felt when driving except through slightly weightier steering at high speed (not a bad thing). The ride is much better, and the handling is simply in a different league. The car now grips. A lot! They are also far more progressive and deliver better steering feel.

I also replaced the stock 11/16" front anti-roll bar with a 60% stiffer, tubular version from Kelvedon. It saves about 4 lb, and has reduced the body roll significantly. It still rolls more than my other cars, but not enough to hamper transitions.

​Last on the list was replacing the Lotus 26R style steering wheel with a Momo Prototipo. The 26R wheel is slightly smaller (13" vs. 13.75") which is preferred, but the rim was too skinny for my tastes, and I don't like a wheel without thumb padding on the spokes. Aesthetically, I also prefer the look of drilled spokes to the 26R's slotted spokes.

The handling experience is now pretty special. Great steering feel and it dives for an apex in a similar fashion to the Westfield; Chapman was right about the benefits of adding lightness.

The Elan arrived missing the factory jack, which is specific to the Elan. Used examples seem to go for ~$700. Since I don’t plan to show the car, spending that much on a jack seemed a waste. Besides, the spare tire is almost 30 lb of dead weight. Adding in the jack, and tools to remove the center lock wheel, that’s a lot of extra pounds to carry around in case I get a flat. It seemed a better option to jettison all those items and take a page form modern cars and use an air compressor and tire sealant. After a little research, I came across a very small and light compressor intended for Motorcycles, and Slime tire sealant designed for tube tires like the XAS FF. Those two items weigh a combined 2.75 pounds! Next was deciding how to stow those items. With the spare tire out of the way, there was now a ton more room in the boot, but driving the car made it clear that the spare absorbed sound. To solve both issues, closed cell foam was layered in the spare tire well and cut outs were made to tightly hold the compressor, Slime, and a tool roll (it’s a Lotus. You need to drive with tools). ​

The Elan arrived with a few issues: dead driver’s side window, horn that honked on its own, and ½” of play in the steering. The horn was an easy fix. The contact plate that attaches to the base of the steering column had come loose and would complete the electrical connection when the mood struck. Easy fix.

The window was harder, as it required disassembly of the mechanism and a complete rebuild. It now works much better, but is still not optimal. Connecting the battery directly to the window motor revealed that the mechanism in the door works great, meaning the problem lies in the wiring between the battery and the motor. Searches on Elan.net reveal that the fix is larger gauge wire and relays. That will happen (maybe) over the winter.

The steering fix was easy but frustrating. Rather than a U-joint connecting the steering column with the rack, Lotus used a device called a flexible coupling that mimics a U-joint's flexibility via rubber cones wrapped around connecting bolts that are fitted through oversized holes. It works well until the rubber cones dry up and die. I initially replaced it with a U-joint from Dave Bean Engineering, but that part was poorly made and only eliminated half the slack. The much beefier U-joint from RD Enterprises was worth the additional $25 and has completely eliminated the slack.

The repeat visitor (Hi Mom!) will notice the site has a new section. Yes, I bought a Lotus Elan. I’m not sure quite when that car entered my consciousness or when it turned to lust, but it’s been a long, long time. It went from my dream car in high school, to a purchase waylaid when the Westfield fell into my lap in 2001, to finally sharing space with that car in my garage.

I almost bought a ’67 pre-airflow FHC this summer on Bring a Trailer. I had been watching the auction since the car appeared and with a couple of minutes left, decided to throw in a bid. Then another. Then I came to my senses. The buyer later revealed that his last bid was his limit, so if I had increased my last bid by $500, it was mine, but fortunately I held back. Although a very nice and honest car with the added benefit of Webers, it had some issues. It previously had a roll cage so the interior had some associated installation issues that would bother me. It was also a pre-airflow. Although I prefer the looks of that version, I figured that Lotus added the vents to the rear pillar for a reason. Air flow through a cabin is a good thing. And most importantly, it was red. Granted the Elan looks great in that color, but the Westfield is red, and the 951 (which will be going up for sale soon) is also red. In fact, the 993 I almost bought instead of my car was red. I like red, but not to the degree that I want most of my cars that color.

The car I eventually bought is in better shape than the BaT car, has a ton of extras that I wanted, a significant amount of maintenance/repairs, and after adding buyer’s fees to the BaT car was about $1600 cheaper. Despite the $14,500 the previous owner invested over the 6 months before I bought it, there is still some work to do. It arrived with a broken driver’s side window and horn, play in the steering, some rattles, and in need of a few upgrades. Fortunately I have a garage and a bunch of tools I’m not afraid to use. Stay tuned

Looks like it’s time for my annual blog post. From a car perspective, it’s been a very boring year. We began looking for a new house last fall, and didn't move in until March, which put a bit of a hold on all car-related projects. The upside to that is the garage at the new place is enormous, with incredible potential as a car and wood shop. Unfortunately the word "potential" in the previous sentence is used as a foreshadowing device to portend some less than good news: Moisture issues. Serious moisture issues. Smelly, rust inducing, wood warping, moisture issues. <sigh>The building itself is two connected garages that were built 10 years apart. The original garage is 30x25, and they later added a 30x15 second story office above it, and a 28x45 shop sharing one of the original outside walls. The original garage is a bit moist, but nothing serious. The shop, however, is a different story. After 6 months of contractors, a perimeter drain, and a new slab with vapor barrier, the moisture in that section is now in check. However, after airing it out for a few weeks while the slab dried, and painting the walls, some odor issues remain which may require some work in the attic. The good news though is that it's finally at a point where I can safely move in the contents from the smaller garage section and get back to work. As of this writing the main cabinets are in place, and I'm starting to unpack my boxes. Hopefully that work will be done and the lift in place over the next week. Some pictures and a little more detail are located here.

Made a weird discovery today. The front and rear friction washers that bookend the crank sprocket assembly on the Duratec are missing. As a modern "dispose when done" engine, Ford/Mazda optimized for assembly line speed rather than rebuild ease, and opted to use clamping force to hold the crank pulley and sprockets in proper alignment, rather than a woodruff key. These missing washers are paper thin, Porsche priced items ($20/ea) and apparenlty form a critical component of the clamping design. I don't recall replacing them when I did the cams in 2007. I'm not sure if I simply didn't know about them back then, or if I was told that they didn't require replacement. Now I suppose I could have simply screwed up and failed to put the front washer on 5 years ago when attaching the crank pulley, but in order to get to the rear washer, you have to remove the oil pump sprocket and then slide it and the crank sprocket off the nose of the crank as a unit (there is virtually no slack on that chain even when the tensioner is removed). I am absolutely positive I didn't touch the oil pump 5 years ago, and given there is no reason to remove the crank sprocket unless you're removing the crank or replacing the rear washer, I can't imagine I would have taken it off, removed the old washer, and then put it back together wihout a new one. This tells me that these washers were never on my engine. As to why they were never there, I suppose it's down to the engine's history. It was purchased from Kansas Racing Products who manufactured alloy racing blocks for Ford who in turn gave them sweetheart deals on excess engines. I was told these engines become available for a variety of reasons: over production, pulled from the line for Quality Assurance testing, or simply for the engineers to look at and measure. Because none of these engines are considered “new” Ford can’t resell them as crate engines, so they are stuck with two options: destroy them or allow their “friends” such as KRP to resell them at deep discounts to their own customer base. When the engine arrived, the coil pack mount was missing a corner, but other than that it looked brand new and had never been fired. Perhaps there was an issue with the washers on the assembly line that was dioscovered after the engine was assembled, and it was deemed cheaper to sell it (and possibly others) as an excess engine, rather than repair it.

Between this and the cam bolt issue described below, I really dodged a bullet.